


Meeting Us

by Blubyl



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-04-24 18:34:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14361237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blubyl/pseuds/Blubyl
Summary: She smiles to the man and vowed to herself that she would marry someone like him someday. Someone who was kind, patient and whose smile was as bright as the sun. Moir, was the name etched on his red jersey.---AU.The one where Scott's a hockey player and T's a young ballerina.Technically.





	1. The Hockey Game

“Mom why are boys so mean?” T puts her backpack down on the pristine floor after what feels like the longest day of school.  
  
“Is it Jason again?” her mother inquires.  
  
“Yeah.” T’s eyes land to the floor as she starts to squidge the invisible spider under her feet, “He’s always pulling on my pigtails and teasing my nose.”

“Some boys were just born dumb,” her mom replies as she pulls her into a hug, making T laugh.  
  
Her mother smiles and kisses her nose and says, “I made you, and I made you perfect just the way you are, my little Tutu. Jason clearly needs glasses if he can’t see you the way everybody else does.”

_Yeah, she couldn’t argue with that logic._  T pulls her mother in tighter. “I love you.”  
  
“I love you more.”

And just as Jason broke her day earlier on, her mother had instantly fixed it; like she always does. She would probably need a million hands if she wanted to count out the number of times her mother made her feel better.

“Oh. I almost forgot, here’s your slip,” her mother grabs the paper from the white marble table, handing it to her.

“Do I really have to go? It’s ice hockey.” T groans as she tries to pull her best puppy dog eyes.

“It’s compulsory.”

“But can’t I just pull a sick day? I’m starting to feel like a fever’s coming on already. Look,” she pulls her mother’s hand to her forehead.

Her mother laughs, shaking her hand off. “We’re Canadian, we love ice hockey. You’ll love it once you try it, Tutu.”

“But it’s not like they’re teaching us how to play! They’re just making us watch Mom!”

“I’m sure Mr. Baker has something planned,” her mom replies in a soothing tone.

“He’s a dinosaur Mom! He’s ancient, I swear he’ll probably sleep throughout the entire game.”  
  
“I’m sure it won’t be so bad. I’ll pick you up myself after it’s over, and we’ll have ice cream afterwards,” her mother promises.  
  
“Fine,” T harrumphs as she snatches the paper from her mother’s hand.

~  
  
Ice hockey, was still ice hockey. It was rough and the stadium was freezing. It lacked the finesse and elegance that ballet had offered her. She couldn’t believe that it was Canada’s national sport with all the pushing and shoving,  _weren’t Canadians supposed to be nice and friendly at all times?_

Within a second of thinking that, a face smudged itself on the glass wall in front of her, causing her to jerk back as Jason hooted and hollered beside her. It was just a cosmic joke at this point; what had she done to make the Gods punish her this bad? _Was it because she accidentally tripped that old lady? Because I swear it was a very unfortunate accident! She wasn’t looking, I wasn’t looking. My feet, her feet. BOOM. Flat on her face. OUCH._

“They won! They won!” Jason jumped off his seat as he grabbed T’s arm, causing her to lurch up out of her seat.  _Seriously. This was the worst day of her life._

From what she could tell, the red team won by one point against the blue team. Apparently, the last goal was scored in the final ten seconds of the match. “This is the most exciting game I’ve ever seen!” Jason exclaimed.  _Big whoops,_ she thought.

An entire ballet recital captivated her from start to finish; with the intricate details of body movements, capturing the small nuances of the music. It was graceful, elegant and had a magical way of enrapturing her mind. This however was not ballet. Ice hockey was bold, brash, loud and lacked any finesse, it was no wonder to her that Jason wanted to be a professional ice hockey player when he grew up. She could totally see him fit right in.

Just as she thought that all ice hockey players were like Jason, a man knocked on the glass wall in front of her, causing her to look up. He was holding an ice puck and was smiling at her. Maybe this day wouldn’t be so bad she thought, as she reached up to catch the puck. But again, as luck would have it, Jason- who was half a foot taller than her- grabbed it first.  _Of course, out of anyone else, it had to be him. It had to be him, who clearly stole the one thing that she thought was the best thing to happen at the game._

Sullen, she goes back to her seat. The man must have noticed, because he knocked again on the glass barrier, holding another puck. She jumped out of her seat and leaped as high as she could, finally grabbing it. She smiles to the man and vowed to herself that she would marry someone like him someday. Someone who was kind, patient and whose smile was as bright as the sun. Moir, was the name etched on his red jersey. And just like that, the hockey game wasn’t so bad.

~

“Look Mom!” T puts out her hand out, holding the puck. “It’s lighter than what I thought it would be.”

“See, I knew you would have a good time.” Her mother smiles while rubbing her head.

“It wasn’t because of the ice hockey, it was because of him,” T points to the man in the number 14 jersey as she puts the puck in her pocket.  
  
“The referee?” her mother looking confused.

“No. No, the one next to him!” she beams out.

Grabbing her mother’s arm, she says “I want to go and meet him.”

Before her mother could grab her, T was already running across the sheet of ice.

“Stop!” her mother yells out.

It did not register to T that this was a bad idea until she tried to stop running.

“Woah, there!” he catches her shoulders as she starts to skid across the ice. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine,” T pants out. She was sure that she was looking flustered. It was not the way she envisioned meeting him would look like.  _At least on her part_.

“I’m sorry about my daughter!” her mom chirps out while waddling across the ice to them. “She just gets so excited sometimes.”

“That’s okay,” he says to her mom. “I always want to meet young fans,” he smiles to T. “So, what’s your name?” he kneels down to meet her eye level.

“Tutu.”

“Tutu?”

“I’m a ballerina and my name starts with T,” she explains. “Everyone calls me Tutu or T for short,” she smiles.

“I like it,” he grins. “Nice to meet you Tutu. I’m Scott,” he holds out his hand.

“You’re my favorite player,” T says as she shakes Scott’s hand.  _He was really the only ice hockey player that she knew of, but it didn’t mean any less, as he was still her favorite._

“Thank you. You’re my favorite fan,” Scott winks at her. She could swear that her heart skipped a beat.

“If you want you can come and cheer me on for my ballet recital next week.”

“Talulah!” her mother scolds her. “You can’t just go around asking strangers to go to your ballet recital.”  
  
“But he’s not a stranger Mom, he’s Scott.” she gestures to him as Scott sheepishly smiles to her mom. ”And besides he just told me that I’m his favorite fan!” Talulah reasons with her mother.

Scott laughs. It’s a nervous one, she notes.

“I’m really sorry about my daughter, she gets carried away easily,” her mom explains.

“It’s alright,” Scott stands up and puts a hand on her mom’s shoulder, “my niece has a ballet recital next week too, it’s probably the same one.”

“The one on Oak Street?” Talulah interjects as she can see her mother slightly blush.

“Yup. The same one,” he smiles. “I’ll be sure to cheer you and my niece on next week,” he boops her nose. It would have annoyed her if it was anybody else (especially with his cold finger), but he was Scott and he just promised to be there and cheer her on, so she lets it go and just thanks him.

“You really don’t have to,” her mother says. Talulah can tell that she’s embarrassed by the way she’s caressing her arm.

“It’ll be a pleasure to cheer my favorite fan on,” Scott grins. “I’ll see Tutu and you-” he points to her mom.  
  
“Tessa,” Talulah says.

“Ah. Talulah and Tessa.” Scott smiles.” I’ll see you both next week and I’ll cheer you on as loudly as I can,” he hugs Talulah. (She notes that he gives warm hugs and smells of pine)  
  
“Thank you so much. You’re too nice,” her mother remarks at Scott as he releases Talulah.

“I’ll be sure to look out for you in the crowds,” Talulah tells him as she grabs hold of her mother’s hand.

“I would be delighted to see you dance,” he says. “It’ll be a way to pay back the support you’ve given me throughout the game.”

Talulah and her mother both blush. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that she wasn’t really interested in ice hockey until after the game. And she was certainly sure that her mother didn’t want to tell him that she was only there to pick her up.

_See you then and nice to meet you_ , was their only reply as they waddled back to the stands, grasping each other’s hand as they slipped an inch with every tiny step they took.

“He’s cute,” her mother whispered to her, making Talulah giggle. If she didn’t know any better, she would say that her mom had a little crush on Scott.

Talulah notices Jason as they grab on to the boards. Wide-eyed with his mouth hanging open, staring at her. She sticks her tongue out at him.  
  
“So, you still up for ice cream?” her mother asks.

“Yup,” she pops out the ‘p’ while feeling the puck in her pocket.  _This may be the best day of her life so far._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the misleading summary. I just had to write this idea down, it was just too amusing for me not to. I hope it wasn't too confusing to follow.


	2. The Ballet Recital

“So where’s your dad?” Anna asks her.

This question doesn’t faze Talulah anymore, not like it used to when she was younger.

The first time she was asked this question was when she got lost in the zoo – at age five.

A zookeeper held her and asked her if she knew where her parents were and what they looked like. She shook her head no on the first question. And for the second, she took a huge gulp of air in between each word she uttered, perfectly describing her mom that day – ‘ _brown… hair… green… eyes… with… a…. strip-y… black… and… white… t-shirt… and… jeans.’_

Her dad not so much.

 _‘My… Dad?’_  she sniffled _. ‘I… don’t… know,’_  she cried into her arms.

Back then, she still held the idea that one day her dad would magically appear right in front of her eyes; smiling with his perfectly tousled dirty blonde hair and explain to her that he was away for so long because evil monkeys kept him hostage for those five years. In her dreams he would say to her that he survived because of her, because she was the only thought that kept him from giving up trying to escape the monkeys.

She panicked that day at the zoo because of this idea. And because of that, she lost sight of her mom when she saw the evil monkeys in their cages – a couple were on the shoulders of a man (looking back, she thinks that the man must have been a zookeeper, showing the monkeys off). She ran away as far as she could, escaping the tight grasp of her mother’s hand as she dodged strangers that walked idly past her. She only stopped running once a zookeeper approached her, noticing that she looked disorientated without an adult in sight.

Luckily for her, the zookeepers found her mom quickly and returned Talulah safely into the arms of her mother. Dazed and still frightened, she pleaded with her mom not go back to where they kept the evil monkeys.  _She guesses this is why her mom still keeps her away from seeing any of the Curious George films._

She tried asking her mom about her dad a few times when she was younger, but she quickly learnt that the subject was not one that her mom wanted to talk about; her mom would masterfully shift the topic altogether without even blinking. She memorized the lines her mom gave her so much that she could pretty much recite one of them back to Anna.

“My dad’s not here, but he’s somewhere.” she smiles (‘ _Your dad’s not here, but he’s somewhere…’_ ), “But my mom’s right there-” she points to the middle seat in the third row where her mom is scrounging for something in her bag (‘ _But I’m right here, Tutu…’_ ), “she’s one of my biggest supporters.” Talulah smiles to her mom as her mom notices her (‘ _I always will be’ – she always said this with the warmest smile_ ).

Anna rigidly smiles and pats her back, before walking away to hug her parents in anticipation of their recital.

She knew that Anna came from a big, happy family - the ones you’d always see in those Christmas movies; Mom, Dad and siblings in tow, wearing matching ugly knit sweaters as they sang Christmas carols. Anna had told her that her aunts and uncles were going to come and watch the recital today, and that she was feeling nervous and excited at the same time.

Talulah couldn’t relate. She never experienced being nervous before a performance, her mom’s serene energy always calmed her before she took the stage and she knew that no matter what, her mom would always be there to cheer her on. Her mom was the one person that she could always rely on.

To her, her mom was the greatest person in her life. She was (and still is) the person who knew her best. The one who braided her hair before her ballet recitals. The one who cheered her on loudly after each and every performance. The one who she cried to when she tripped and missed a pirouette. She was the one person who was constant in her life. With her mom by her side, she didn’t need a ‘normal family’ – with a dad.  _At least that’s what she thought._

~

“You think he’s really gonna come?” Her mom approaches her backstage, fifteen minutes before the recital starts.

“How should I know Mom, he said he was.” Talulah shrugs. But she’s been secretly sneaking looks towards the audience, trying to spot him.

Talulah could tell that her mom was anxious by the way that she way messing with her hair. Her mom usually isn’t this anxious at her ballet recitals, usually her mom has calming energy, which helps Talulah to channel her nerves before her performances. Right now, her mom’s fussing is not helping her – at all.

“What do you think, ponytail or a top bun?”

“Either’s fine Mom.” Her annoyed expression matching her voice. “I should be the one who’s freaking out about my appearance! It’s not like you’re the one being judged,” Talulah says as she fixes her tutu.

“I know Tutu,” her mom caresses her back. “I’m just a little on the edge today, I guess.”

She finally feels what Anna felt, as it finally dawns on her that her mother was not the only one supporting her today, but that he was also going to be there cheering her on. He had promised her.

Her mother settles on a ponytail before kissing Talulah on the cheek and wishing her good luck before going back to her seat. Talulah could tell that her mom was still anxious.

“It’s gonna be alright,” she tells herself, before taking a huge breath of air.

~

When she sneaks another peek towards the audience ten minutes before the recital starts, she notices him – plain white shirt, jeans and a smile on his face as he walks through the door. Already, she’s starting to feel better.  _She knows her performance by heart and she wants to perform it well, especially for him._

“Scott!” she waves.

He waves back, mouthing something incomprehensible to her (it might have been a good luck wish), as her mom waves him down towards an empty seat next to her. Her mom must have saved that seat for him, she thinks. _How obvious of her mom._

Talulah smirks at her mom as Scott apologizes to the people in the row as he moves past them trying to get to the seat. Catching her eye, her mom blushes.  _Yep, her mom has a school girl crush on Scott_.

 _“Et tu, Mother?”_  she mouths back to her mom, before Miss Lindsey – her teacher grabs her, telling her that they are about to start in a couple of minutes.

She wouldn’t hold it against her mom if she started dating him; sure, she had a tiny crush on Scott herself – but who didn’t. From their little interaction he seemed like a good-hearted guy and it didn’t hurt that he was handsome too. She wouldn’t be opposed to seeing him more often herself.  _Maybe he could finally teach her why ice hockey was fascinating to people. Maybe he could teach her so well that she finally thrashes Jason in ice hockey_. She relishes the idea and hopes that Scott has a crush on her mom too.

She knows that Scott wouldn’t stand a chance against the natural charm and beauty of her mom. Everyone who met her loved her – there wasn’t a single person in the world who didn’t fall in love with mom, especially when her mom tried. It only added to the charm when they finally met Talulah.

_Oh the stories she could tell about her mom’s exes._

~

Talulah hears her music playing and she goes in auto-pilot mode, traversing each move with as much elegance and grace as she could muster. Normally she doesn’t look at her mom during her performances, but she makes an exception this time to glance at her and her guest.

Both of their eyes are transfixed on her every move, moving their faces ever-so slightly as she makes her way across the other side of the stage –  _they look so cute together. Wait, wait, are they…are they holding hands?_   _Is Scott squeezing her mother's hand?_ She strains her eyes to get a better look. Surely, she didn't just imagine him smiling to her mom like a proud father would. _No, wait. That would be crazy, right? Surely she must have been imagining that_. And with a lapse of concentration, Talulah stumbles – only a minor mistake, to which an untrained eye wouldn’t notice.

Her mom notices, but Scott doesn’t. Talulah notes that they’ve stopped holding hands. _Was it all in her imagination?_

“Focus,” she mumbles to herself, taking a deep breath as she settles into an arabesque position. She doesn’t dare to sneak another glance at her mom and Scott.

She makes her way through the performance without any more mistakes. Relieved, Talulah smiles and bows to the crowd. She sees her mom and Scott giving her a standing ovation – her mom cheers loudly, while Scott whistles a tune so piercing that she worries that her mom might go deaf standing beside him. _It was not her best performance, but still it certainly was not her worst_.  She sweetly smiles back to them before exiting the stage (like what a daughter might do to her proud parents).

~

Talulah stands on the side of the stage, behind the curtains for the rest of the performances. She always loved watching the others from the side, she loved seeing every ritual each dancer did before taking the stage – prayers, stretching exercises, singing and all the things in between. But most of all, she loved seeing their performances in the angle that most never got to. There was just something so special about it. From the side it felt like you were the only other person in the room; the curtains hid everyone else. They were dancing only for you.

All was going well until Anna took a fall – failing to balance on her pirouette. Her mistake was pretty noticeable to the audience, as she heard a few audible gasps.  

“I can’t believe that I just did that,” Anna cries as she makes her way off the stage.

“It’s okay, everyone has their off days,” Talulah says, trying to comfort her.

“But it’s the first time my aunts and uncles have seen me dance,” Anna wipes a tear, “they must think that I’m such a klutz.”

“If you’re a klutz, then I’m klutz-ier,” she laughs. It was true – to Talulah, Anna was the best ballet dancer in her class, she had a natural charm and always had a graceful way of making her body move to the notes of the music. She was born to be a ballerina, even her name suited it.

“Thank you,” Anna hugs her. “You’re my best friend in the whole entire world.”

She’s slightly taken aback by Anna’s admission, she didn’t even know that she was her friend before this. She knew that Anna was kind, a little reserved to herself and a great ballerina, but to Talulah they were more like acquaintances.

She first met Anna only a year ago, moving with her family from Toronto. A mousy haired girl who was a little taller than her, that she had only seen once or twice a week through their ballet lessons. Even then, their conversations could only be classified as  _little chit-chats_. So, it did shock her that Anna considered her to be her best friend when Talulah doesn’t even know what her favorite color is.

To make the situation not awkward she mumbles back, “You too,” hoping that it sounds sincere enough. If she was being completely honest with Anna she would have said that her mom was her best friend in the whole entire world. But that just sounds lame and it might’ve made Anna cry even more; making the situation a lot more uncomfortable for them both.

Anna doesn’t seem to catch on though, as she smiles back to Talulah before excusing herself to see her biggest supporters.

~

“You were so great today!” her mom beams out at her before crushing her with a hug.

“Thanks mom, but you know that it wasn’t my best.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” her mom kisses her forehead. “ _We_ thought that you were wonderful.”

That’s when she notices that someone was missing.

“Where’s Scott?” Talulah asks.

“Oh. he’s over there with his niece,” her mom points to the other side of the room, where she sees that her new best friend is hugging Scott, surrounded by other people that she doesn’t know.  _Anna is hugging Scott. Anna is Scott’s uncle. Her new best friend is Scott’s niece_. She bursts out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” her mom raises an eyebrow.

“It’s just that my new best friend is Scott’s niece,” she explains. “It’s really not that funny.”

She wouldn’t say it to her mom, but at this moment she’s slightly jealous of Anna. Even though she had a way better performance than her, she wonders what it would be like to embrace all those people at the end of her performance; to hear all those compliments and receive those smiles. She wonders what it would be like to have a ‘normal family’ – the ones you see in those Christmas movies. It certainly was a nice vision to see her mom with Scott in the middle of her performance, even if she might have been imagining the things happening between them.

Taking her back from her reverie, her mom smiles “You have a new best friend?”

“Yeah. I made one backstage. Anna,” she smiles, pointing to the mousy haired ballerina, sitting atop Scott’s shoulders as they head out of the room. _Ah. What she would give to be Anna right now._

With Scott in her mind, she nudges her mom.

“So, what happened with _your new boyfriend_?” she teases, “I was afraid to look and see you two making out in the middle of my performance,” grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“Don’t be ridiculous Talulah! Scott’s not my boyfriend,” her mom says as she messes Talulah’s hair.

“Mom!” Talulah groans as she tries to fix back her hair.

“Not yet anyways,” her mom cheekily nudges her before saying, “we have a date on Friday.” 

_So maybe she wasn’t imagining things after all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finally finished the second chapter and I know a little bit more to where this story might be heading. Who knew that writing outside the perception of our two usual main protagonists would be so hard. Anyways thanks for reading.
> 
> It should also be noted that I have never been a ballerina or an ice hockey player; apart from the little knowledge I have from watching bunheads and the rare hockey games on TV I know nothing about these fields. So feel free to correct me or send me the basics.


	3. The Preparation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a fun and light chapter. Enjoy!

Her mom is late.

Scott’s supposed to pick her up in an hour. And her mom still hasn’t made it home.

Talulah paces around the living room. She and her mom had a plan – her mom was supposed to be at home thirty minutes ago and Talulah was supposed to help her get ready for her date with Scott. At least that’s what she thought the plan was.

She couldn’t believe that her mom was late. Her mom had been gushing about Scott and their date throughout the whole week – bringing it up at a moment’s notice as if they were just talking about the weather or moaning about how bad school or work had been.

 _‘Ooooohhhh… that mushroom ravioli looks nice. I hope Scott brings me to an Italian restaurant.’_ Her mom strode past the TV while Talulah watched Masterchef with Gordon Ramsey yelling at a woman who was seconds away from crying.

_‘Oh My God! Did I tell you about the joke Scott made before your ballet recital? No, I haven’t?... Okay I have to get this right. What did the ballet dancer say when she lost her shoe?’_

Talulah shrugged, trying to hold her emotions together.

 _‘Ugh! This is pointeless!’_ Her mom poked her side as she looked at Talulah for her reaction. _‘Get it? Pointless with an e.’_ Tears were starting to well up in Talulah’s eyes – and it wasn’t because of the joke.

Not receiving the reaction that she wanted from Talulah, her mom quips, _‘Scott said it so much better than I did, I’m sure you would have laughed when he told it.’_

They were sitting on the couch, watching the scene in Marley and Me where they showed the owner tearfully saying goodbye to Marley when her mom said this fun little anecdote. Talulah cried as Marley closed his eyes for the last time while her mother grabbed more popcorn from the kitchen.

Love, infatuation or whatever disease her mom got from Scott was starting to make her mom immune from seeing anything that might affect her lovey-dovey mood.

Her mom didn’t use to be like this.

When her mom saw that Gordon screaming into the ear of a contestant she would shout right back to him that they were ‘just doing the best they could’, as if Gordon could hear her.

When they saw a sad movie together, her mom would instantly hide behind the blankets as soon as she heard the melancholy sounds swell up through the speakers, not looking back up until Talulah nudged her – telling her that she could look back up again, that the sad part was over.

She was starting to get a little tired of her mom’s behavior to be completely honest. It was as if she saw her mom regressing back into a love-stricken teenager, complete with heart-eyes every time Scott’s name was mentioned – even at her own doing.

Talulah was as much as excited as her mom for this date, just so that the shine on Scott may dim a little for her mom. _Scott was great, but not THAT great._

She knows that she shouldn’t blame Scott for her mom’s strange behavior over the past week. But she does. He inadvertently did this to her mom - one of the fiercest person that she knows. He was going to have to pay for all the things that she had to put up with within the week. She was going to make sure of that.

~

“I’m here, I’m here,” her mom pants out, carrying at least four different black dress bags in her hand.

There was now only thirty minutes left for her to get ready if Scott arrives at their house on time.

“I know, I know I’m late” her mom says as she flings her heels off only a couple of steps from the door. Without Talulah saying anything her mom continues, “I had two last minute meetings sprung up on me and Gary wouldn’t shut up about his pet turtle.” Her mom points at her incredulous face, “I mean does my face say that I’m interested about hearing how your turtle would ‘win a Turtle Olympics because he is that fast.’”

“No, you strike me more as a rabbit person-,” Talulah interjects. “’cause you certainly weren’t a dog person the other day,” she mumbles under her breath.

“Hmm. What was that?” Her mom looks at her for the first time since she entered their home.

“Nothing,” Talulah puts on a smile.

Her mom, still in her little world continues, “Seriously I had to pretend to go to the bathroom just to escape him,” shaking her head.

Talulah, more interested in the bags that her mom’s carrying, steals one from the hands of her mom, carefully opening the zipper as her mom drapes the other dress bags over an arm of their white couch.

In situations like these, it was helpful that her mom was a fashion editor of a local magazine. She could basically ‘borrow’ the latest clothing trends within an arm’s reach. (Although some of them never made it back to her office)

“Really mom? You grabbed this?” Talulah holds up a pale pink floor length dress that seemed like it would be a staple in Amish clothing. “Seriously,” she looks her mom straight in the eyes, “a monotone grey pantsuit would be better than this,” she huffs as she stuffs the dress back in the bag, closing it back up – this time not so carefully.

“I had no time!” her mom stresses out. “I just grabbed the bags that were right next to me,” her mom plops her whole body down the couch, falling head first into a grey woolly pillow. “I should just tell him that we should postpone it.”

_Did she just hear her mom correctly? Was her mom going to subdue her into another week of hearing Scott’s name being mentioned at least every hour?_

Before her mind could properly answer her own question, her mouth spoke for her.

“No!” Tahlulah shouts, “I mean no,” more subdued this time, “we’re gonna make it work,” she snaps her finger between each word, earning a laugh from her mother. She was going to make sure that they went on this date - there was no way that she was going to go through the ordeal of the past week ever again.

She picks up another bag while her mom sits up on the couch.

“This isn’t too bad,” she says as she holds up a short black silk dress.

“No,” her mom laughs, “that was used for a bedroom photoshoot,” as Talulah fingers the lace. “It’s a negligee, Tutu,” her mom takes Talulah’s hand and puts down the dress.

“Well I’m sure Scott wouldn’t mind,” Talulah’s smile widen as her mother’s cheeks redden.

“Nope,” her mom shakes her head. “show me the next one,” she gestures to the following bag.

Talulah opens the next one, this time pulling out a sleek knee-length green dress with see-through panels at the sides. It showed the perfect amount of skin – not too conservative and not too bedroom-y.

“This is perfect mom,” Talulah makes her mom stand up as she holds the dress to her mom’s body. “It’ll make your eyes go KAPOW!” she makes a firework motion with a hand and widens her eye.

Her mom starts forming a smile on her face as she looks at Talulah.

“What?” Talulah asks, all of a sudden feeling jittery.

Her mom smiles as she takes the dress off Talulah’s hand. “I love you so much Tutu.”

“Not as much as I love you Mom,” she smiles back, feeling more relaxed. Seriously, with what she had to go through this week, she was certain of it – there was no way you could change her mind. “Now go try it on, he’ll be here any minute now,” she shoos her mom away to the bathroom before cleaning up after her – picking up the heels her mom left in the foyer and hiding the remaining dress bags in a linen closet.

~

The doorbell rings.

“Mom! I think Scott’s here.”

“Distract him for a second will you Tutu? I’ll be out in a couple of minutes,” she hears her mom yell through the bathroom door.

She peeks through the peephole using her tiptoe and notices a bouquet of flowers first. _How sweet_. Scott paces a little in his buttoned up white shirt with a well fitted navy blazer and jeans. _He cleans up well_. Well, that was what she thought before she saw the horrendous amount of gel on his head. _Christ. Did he use the whole tub?_ She notices him shifting his weight between his feet as he mouths something to himself. _Was he seriously giving himself a little pep talk?_

 _Oh, she was going to have so much fun time_ ‘ _distracting’_ _him alright._

She opens the door with a big smile on her face. “Scott!” she hugs him with full force, making him stumble back a little. Taking a step back and welcoming him in, they take a couple of steps inside her home before she coyishly asks “Are those flowers for me?”

Scott gulps. “Well… uhhh,” he fiddles with his hair, “no it’s for-”

She cuts him off. “Seriously Scott,” putting both her hands on her hips as she stares him down, pretending to be mad. “Is this how you treat your favorite fan?” She raises an eyebrow as Scott gulps again. “You didn’t even come say hi to me after my performance,” she huffs, before continuing “If this is how you treat your favorite fan then how do I know that you’ll treat my mom right? _Huh?_ ” She pokes him in the chest.

The look on Scott’s face is priceless – deer in headlights with a face so pale it was as if he’d just been woozy, donating blood. She smiles inwardly to herself, but her demeanor on the exterior is serious.  _Yup, she still got it. People still raved about her performance as Gretel from two years ago._

Scott opens his mouth for a second and then closes it again.  _Did she go too far? She could never tell._

“I’m only kidding Scott!” She nudges him and he breathes a huge sigh of relief.  _She was only partially kidding about him not saying hi to her after her performance_ , but she had figured that she needed to tone it down a little if she wanted Scott to not hurl himself out of the door before his date with her mom.

And she did want this date to happen, even just to bring some sanity to her mom’s mind.

Scott finally smiles. “Thank God,” he wipes an invisible sweat off his brows, “I don’t think I can handle you hating me Tutu,” as he pulls something out from inside his blazer pocket. “I did bring something for you.”

He holds out a little keychain to her - A ballerina one in the middle of a pirouette and her nickname ‘Tutu’ in pink writing, embellished on another chain next to the ballerina. It was a cute gift, a little obvious, but cute nonetheless.

Comparing to the trinkets that her mom’s exes brought her, this one was up there with the best. The best she ever received was a custom-made dollhouse, complete with doll versions of her mom, herself and Craig (the furniture maker) for her fourth birthday. It was a sad day when her mom and Craig broke up in a less than amicable way - she could never look at that dollhouse the same way after. It now lives in their attic, where the other sad trinkets she collected from her mom’s exes live. She hopes this ballerina won’t suffer the same fate as she grabs the keychain off him and twirls it around her index finger.

“Thanks Scott!” she pats his arm, “I don’t think that I could ever hate you,” she smiles to him as he relaxes his shoulders. “Sit down,” she gestures to the couch while she grabs them both a glass of water from the kitchen, “my mom’s gonna be a minute.”

She puts down the glasses on the coffee table (with coasters of course) in front of them as she notices Scott glancing around their pristine living room, anxiously rubbing his hands together with the flowers sitting on his lap. Trying to put him at ease, she sits on the couch and turns her body towards him, pulling her legs in as she sits cross legged. “So,” she thrums her fingers against her leg, making him turn towards her. “Where are you taking my Mom?” she smiles.

He leans in to her and says, “Well there’s this new fusion Indian and Mexican place in town that I thought we could go to.”

The smile on her face falters.  _Really Scott?_  Her eyebrows say. _Was this one of his jokes that his mom would’ve found amusing?_

Catching on, he says in a hushed tone, “Do you have any idea where your mom wants to go?”

She nods, answering in the same manner. “Bring to her to a nice Italian restaurant, where they serve ravioli. And make sure you order something chocolatey for dessert.”

“Thanks for the help Tutu. How will I ever repay you for this invaluable information?” he smiles to her before taking a sip of water.

She didn’t know if his question was rhetorical or not, but on the off chance that it wasn’t, she chirps “Ice hockey lesson!”

He doesn’t spit out his water.  _Good sign_.

“Okay kiddo!” he pats her head. “You name the time and place, and I’ll be there.”

“Really?”

“Really,” He smiles, “Just make sure that your mom signs off on it, Okay?”

“Oh, she will.” She smiles back at him.

“Got any more advice?” Scott grins as he intently awaits her answer.

“Just be yourself,” she smiles, “my mom’s been going on about you within the past week, so I think your good.” She answers truthfully, before adding “Well… maybe you could use a little less gel next time,” she points to his hair.

“Really?” He down looks to his lap, looking like a kid who’s just been rejected to go to the prom with. _Did she just make him self-conscious before his date? Oh boy._

Her mom picks the perfect time to go out of the bathroom, with Talulah caressing Scott’s back as she tries to backtrack the comment.

Her mom, still in her lovey-dovey mood chooses to think that this is a sweet moment between Talulah and Scott. “Aww you guys,” her mom sweetly says to them, forcing them to turn their bodies to look at her.

_Holy smokes her mom was a babe._

She could see Scott’s jaw drop as her mom saunters closer to the couch. In a half up half down do, her mom looked gorgeous. Her dress had exactly captured and enhanced the striking color of her green eyes, radiant skin, and perfect body.

“Wow Mom! You look stunning,” she smiles while Scott’s jaw still hangs. She elbows him in the ribs, gesturing for him to say something.

“Uhhh… Yeah, yeah… stunning,” he nods, “you… you look stunning.” Her mom couldn’t help but giggle at Scott stumbling to form a coherent sentence.

“Is that for me?” her mom smiles as she points to the bouquet of tulips on his lap.

“Yes! Here!” he stands up and holds it out spastically to her.  _Jeez, that gel comment must have done a number on him. Whoops! She only meant it as an advice._ Talulah just now hopes that Scott won’t back out of the ice hockey lesson. _Drats! she should have made him pinky-promise when she had the chance._

“Thanks, it’s beautiful Scott.” Her mom grabs hold of the flowers while kissing him on the cheek, Talulah observes that Scott’s body loosens up at the touch. “I hope this little one-” she pokes Talulah on the side “-didn’t give you too much trouble while waiting.”

“Not too much,” he winks at Talulah. _Phew. Maybe the ice hockey lesson was still on the table._

“Good.” Her mom turns to her, saying “I just texted Jeanie, so she should be here any minute now, Tutu. So be good okay?” kissing her on the forehead.

Jeanie was their next-door neighbor. She was practically the closest thing Talulah had to a sister. Jeanie was a kind and caring person who always put others above herself – she would start a bake sale to give to a needy local charity and she would always offer to babysit Talulah when she had a chance. It was a wonder to Talulah how she could get along perfectly well with Jeanie, but not her brother - Talulah’s personal archrival – Jason.

“I will, I will.” She rolls her eyes to her mom. “Now you two kids have fun,” she shoves them out of the door, clasping her hands together before waving goodbye to them as she sees Scott opening the door for her mom. 

Jeanie walks up to her house as Scott drives away. “Did I just see Scott Moir with your Mom?”

“Uh huh,” a lump forms in the back of her throat as she wipes away a non-existent tear in her eye.  _Kids - they grow up so fast._


	4. The Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here! This has been sitting in my laptop just waiting for me to read through again to make sure it makes some kind of sense. Anyway enjoy!

Noticing a light shining through the front window, Talulah halts the monopoly game between Jeanie and herself by holding on to the dice and intently listening in on any sound that vaguely resembles the slamming of a car door.

She was curious (like any other good daughter should be. _Right?_ ) on how her mom’s date went – it wasn’t because she was a snoop. She wasn’t a snoop, it was _not_ like that at all.

Jeanie rolls her eyes as she keeps telling Talulah off for every time Talulah so much glances at the window whenever she heard cars speedily passing by their house, chastising her by sternly saying, “Don’t even think about it Tutu, I’m sure your mom wouldn’t like you to snoop,” in an oh so matter of fact way.

_Oh please_ , she rolls her eyes back as she shakes the dice in her hands. Talulah knew her mom way better than Jeanie did.

So when she did hear the bang of a slamming door, Talulah immediately ran towards the front window of their house, letting go of the dice heartily to Jeanie’s dissatisfaction as she lets out a very long and loud sigh as if she had expected it all along.

“Come back Tutu, let’s finish the game.” Jeanie pats down the spot Talulah occupied a few seconds ago.

“Nah, I think I’d like to stay here,” Talulah turns and presses her nose on the glass. The game didn’t matter anyways – she was losing by quite a lot. If she thought that Jeanie was capable of cheating (she was playing as both the banker and a player), she would have accused her of it thirty minutes ago when she had to put a mortgage on Ventnor Avenue.

And plus, Scott and her mom had just arrived at the front of their door. There was no way she was going to miss the events that unfolded next, already noticing that her mom had covered herself in his blazer when they stepped out of the car.

She presses her nose further in to get a better look – she must have looked crazy on the other side of the glass.

Scott leans in and her mom leans in so close to each other that she swore that their foreheads were touching. A gust of wind blows by and knocks a few strands of her mother’s hair into Scott’s face, making both her mom and Scott chuckle as he gently brushes them back into place. If her mom didn’t blush at the touch Talulah would have to applaud her nerve, because Talulah was already cupping her face, feeling her cheeks warm at the gesture.

Her mom and Scott tilt their heads ever so slightly – now their nose coming in to contact as they give each other a small smile. Talulah leans further in, flattening her nose against the glass as she senses what’s to come, already imaging the scene in her head – the wind blowing gently as the autumn leaves surround them, embracing them as her mom elongates her neck so that the tip of her nose is softly brushing against the bridge of his. Scott’s hands slowly manoeuvre their way into her mom’s shoulder and trails along her arms before locking to its destination – her hands. They look at each other intensely, taking in the moment before their lips gently-  

And that’s when she feels her elbow being yanked away, tugging her from her most beloved window.

“Oh! Come on!” she exasperates, her hands flailing madly in the air, “They were just getting to the good part!” Jeanie drags her limp body back to the table, where no fun could ever be had. This was the reason Jeanie could never be her sister, she was too good for Talulah’s own liking. Too square and too nice to complain about. If only Jeanie and her brother Jason had mixed their personalities together, then maybe she would come more often to their house.

“One day you’ll thank me,” Jeanie boops her nose before handing Talulah the dice.

_Maybe, but probably not in her lifetime_. She scrounges her nose and plucks the dice with a sour look on her face.

And with a roll of three, Talulah goes bankrupt.

~

Her mom opens the door, a smile plastered on her face as she twirls around on the spot. “I’m back,” she sings, slightly off key.

Talulah leaps up from her chair and lunges towards her mom. “Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!” she pulls her mom towards her as Jeanie casually slips past her and her mom, heading towards the door.

“Goodnight T and T!” Jeanie says as she walks out of their home.

“Goodnight Jean-”

Talulah interrupts her mom by pulling her hand, “Tell me!” all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Her mom presses her lips into Talulah’s hair as she says, “It’s already eleven, Tutu. I should tuck you in bed.”

“Only if you tell me about it.” Talulah looks up at her mom whose face looked to be as unrelenting as a brick wall, “Please,” she pleads using a tiny voice, trying to chip away the foundation.

Her mom’s eyes soften as she sighs, “Fine,” caving in as she leads Talulah into her lilac colored room.

They squish themselves to fit on her single bed as her mom turns on the dim lighting of the lampshade, putting her phone on the nightstand as they get comfortable.

It’s been a while since they did this.

The last time, Talulah could still perfectly fit between the crook of her mother’s arm as her mother wrapped an embrace around her. This time the position is slightly awkward as they shift themselves to find a more comfortable spot for them both. Now, Talulah lies on her side, her face lying on top of her mom’s collarbone with her mom’s arm scooping her back, leaving featherlight touches as she brushes Talulah’s arm.

If she could only hold on to this feeling forever – safe, warm and loved.

“So,” her mom starts, making Talulah look up at her mom’s radiant, smiling face. “We drove into town, I’m not gonna lie-” her mom chews the inside of her lip, “it was slightly uncomfortable, sitting in his car with a country song humming in the background. Anyway, the song, the moment, me, Scott, his car, it all felt slightly ridiculous and overwhelming and well-“ her mom grins as her cheeks begin to blush, “I let out a nervous giggle in that instant and he looked at me with his soft brown eyes, so attentive before grabbing my fingers with his free hand and telling me that he liked my giggles, which of course forced me to go under a giggle spell until he joined in with my fit.” Talulah could tell that her mom was practically already in love with him with the way that her eye’s sparkled and the minute upward turn of her mouth when she let out his name or looked fondly back at his actions. As much as she didn’t like her mom being in a lovey-dovey mood all day, she always loved seeing her mom happy. And she loved Scott for that.

“Anyway, we were supposed to go to an Italian restaurant with apparently the ‘to die for’ ravioli, but it was already fully-booked when we got there,” her mom continues while combing through Talulah’s hair. “So, we went to the restaurant next door, it was a fusion Indian and-”

_Oh God please don’t’ say it._  

“-Mexican place.” 

_Well, there goes her sage advice - out the window and buried alive, yelling ‘NOOOO!’ as they entered_.

She must have made such a ridiculous face for her mom to say, “It really wasn’t that bad Tutu,” her mom nodding her head as she said it.

Not believing her mom’s word Talulah raises an eyebrow, “Really?”

“Really,” shaking her head. “It was fine,” her pitch raising a few bars as she finished her sentence.  _Okay. Her mom was seriously getting on board the denial express -  in first class._

She slowly nodded along as her mom continues, “The atmosphere was great, colorful tapestry was everywhere – wild and magical drapings of Indian and Mexican cultures from floor to ceiling. It really made the date great, our tongues were painted orange by the time we were done eating which loosened the first date nerves.”

Her mom could give all the compliments in the world, but she knew the truth hidden behind the unspoken words: the food was bad. _Orange tongues on first dates? How on Earth could that ever be romantic?_

Talulah was struggling to hold back a yawn as her mom continued to comb her hair softly, reminding her of younger days when her mom started to read her fairytales that she never finished hearing because her mom’s gentle warm voice would always lull her to sleep before hearing the happily ever after. Talulah shuffles slightly away from her mom and pinches a part of her arm under the covers; she was sure that she didn’t want to miss out on this ending.

“Anyways, you two have something in common,” her mom pinches the tip of her nose.

“What?” she perks up.

“Scott actually took a few ballet lessons growing up.”

She cocks her head to the side as she studies her mom.  _Why would Scott – a hockey player, albeit a good natured one – take lessons in ballet? Surely he must have been joking when he said it_.

“No its true,” her mom pulls her closer. “He was actually supposed to be an ice dancer-”

“Huh?” she cuts her mom off as her head tilts even more. “A what?”

“You know Tutu,” her mom gives her a look like she should know what an “ice dancer” is. “You’ve seen it before. The Olympics. Remember?”

She stares at her mom blankly.

“It’s the one where they dance on ice.” Her mom says as her fingers do the moonwalk across Talulah’s belly. “Ice dancing.”

Talulah rolls over, burying her face into her mom’s side as she tries to stifle a laugh, crying “Mom!” as she attempts to grab hold of her mom’s sneaky fingers inching closer into the side of her neck, causing shivers to go down her spine as she squirms her body, making it as little as possible to defend against any further attacks.  

“Okay, okay. I’ll stop,” she hears her mom’s soothing voice as she relaxes her own body. Her mom scoots down the bed so that their heads are beside each other. Talulah closes the gap between their heads and her mom sighs, “I really like him Tutu.”

She lets a moment of silence hang in the room before she murmurs, “I can tell,” closing her eyes as she gives her mom’s hand a quick squeeze.

It was always obvious for Talulah to see what her mom felt in an instant - her face, her voice, her body movements telling the story her mom always held back in words.

Talulah was basically a master in knowing her mom’s emotions – after spending most of her life by her mom’s side she knew that her mom “really liked” Scott from the moment she stepped out of his car after their date. Talulah could tell that she was holding back a nerve full of giggles as he offered her his hand, her mom grinning widely as she took it, before pressing her mouth against the shoulder of his thin white buttoned-up shirt, leaving her blush colored lips on it. Her mom was aghast and had tried to profusely apologize for staining his shirt – by doing everything but rubbing the mark in. He looked amused as her mom reddened against his gaze and pulled her closer, whispering something against her ear that made her mom smile with the moonlight gleaming in her eyes, before he straightened his back and puffed his chest out as they walked holding hands to the front door.  

Talulah opens her eyes and jerks her body to face her mom. “Wait! Did he kiss you?” She couldn’t believe that she almost forgot the most important question that’s been troubling her since she’d been yanked away at the crucial moment where their faces were just so close to being smushed together.

Her mom turns to face her. “Right here,” she airplanes, landing at a spot in the middle of her cheek.

“But... but, I saw you two! You were about to kiss-”

“On the cheek,” her mom continues for her before quirking her eyebrows, “Were you watching us the whole time?”

Busted.

Talulah pulls up the blanket to hide her blushing cheeks from her mom and closes her eyes tightly. She feels a little suffocated under the blankets and under the stare that she imagines her mom is giving her. It’s embarrassing to be caught snooping – especially when it’s about her mom potentially kissing someone, and even more so when her mom finds out about it. She buries herself deeper in the blankets, wiling herself to be invisible.

She feels her mom pat down her body above the covers. Then, there’s a moment where she feels nothing – no hands hovering over her, no heat of a body next to her.

There. She’s done it. Her mom hates her. It’s all her fault, she should have listened to Jeanie and lost monopoly sooner. Her body is hot all over under the covers but all she feels is the cold and empty feeling of disappointment – it feels worse than missing a crucial step of a routine with all eyes staring at her. Now there’s no one and it feels so, so much worse.

She suddenly feels the covers lift and something pressing against her cheek. Talulah slowly opens her eyes, slowly letting the light in as she sees her mom standing beside her bed, cupping her face while placing a kiss on her cheek.

_Wasn’t she mad?_

Her mom smiles as she softly parts Talulah’s hair down the middle. “I would’ve done the same thing.”

Talulah exhales before smiling at her mom, who was tucking her in.

“Goodnight Tutu,” her mom says as she starts to head for the door.

“Mom?” she softly squeaks, wanting to ask a final question.

“Hmm?” her mom stops and turns towards her.

“It was because of the food, right?”

“Huh?” her mom raises an eyebrow, not getting what she’s saying.

“You guys only kissed on the cheek because of the food. Right?”

Her mom laughs as she turns towards the door again. “Good night Tutu,” she says in a loving tone before she flicks the light off.

_Yeah. It was totally because of the food._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me your thoughts! Hockey Scott will probably make an appearance in the next chapter.


	5. The Three F's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Her day after practicing ballet

**Friend.**

“So.”

“So,” Talulah repeats back to Anna.

They had run out of things to talk about, topics to discuss as they waited for their parents to pick them up after their ballet practice.

This was not a usual occurrence, usually Talulah’s mom would arrive on time or at least get there before their class finished, but now she was officially late and there was only the sound of uncomfortable silence that loomed as Talulah picks at the grass beside her, trying to occupy herself during this awkward situation.

Is it weird that she felt so uncomfortable around her best friend? Probably.

But at least now she knows that Anna’s favorite dessert is an apple pie, her favorite color is yellow and her dream role in a ballet production is Belle in a ballet version of Beauty and the Beast. So, it was progress towards their budding _best_ -friendship.

“So what’s-” Talulah was about to ask Anna for her favorite movie when Anna interrupts her.

“Wouldn’t it be weird if my uncle and your mom get married? I mean we would technically be cousins.” Anna was now picking at the grass too, her eyes surveying the little nest that Talulah built, lightly adding some of the grass that she picked on to the sides of the nest.

 Huh. Talulah never really thought about it.

It had only been a month since she first met Scott and it’d been three weeks since her mom and Scott’s first date. And although he had practically been in their house more times than she can remember to count in those three weeks, the possibility of their marriage had never occurred to her. It was simply too fast and she wasn’t ready to think about the implications of this change, unlike Anna apparently.

She must have held her mouth open for too long because Anna starts eyeing her and says, “It’s just sometimes-” grabs Talulah’s hand (which was stuck in mid-air, pinching a bundle of grass due to Anna’s earlier question), “-I wish I had a cousin like you.”

Talulah looks at her, dumbfounded. _Really?_

It was already weird enough being Anna’s _best_ friend, and if she somehow became her cousin, it would be weirder. Wouldn’t it?

“I mean my family’s close, like really close,” Anna emphasis, twisting her index and her third together. “We basically meet up for anything and everything and well-” she huffs and says, “I’m basically the black sheep,” making Talulah chortle.

How could Anna ever be considered to the black sheep of her family? It didn’t make any sense. Talulah didn’t think that she was a rule breaker, she never heard her say a mean word or do anything awful. And Anna was a ballerina for God’s sake.

“No… it’s true, I am.” Anna’s voice so soft that it was almost a whisper as she continues to build on the nest. “I’m the one who isn’t an ice prodigy, I’m the one who traded her skating shoes for ballet flats. I’m sure it broke my parent’s hearts when I told them I wanted to quit figure skating… and… and although my family comes to ballet recitals, it never feels quite the same as when we go to my brothers or my cousins skating competitions and hockey games.” Her cheeks were reddening and Talulah didn’t really have any words for her, it’s not like she ever had any experience in this. (Her mom knew ballet and even studied it as a child, so she could always turn to her to talk.)

With the stillness lying in the air Talulah starts rubbing her back – it was really the only way she could comfort Anna without telling her that sometimes she wishes that she could have a family like hers.

Anna looks to her and smiles, “I just wish I had someone like you in my family, someone who loves ballet as much as I do and someone who understands it enough to get my references when I say something funny about it. All my family ever talks about are axels and angles.” She lowers her gaze, picking up and twirling a wild daisy between her fingers. “It’s just sometimes I feel like I don’t fit,” she says wistfully, the daisy breaking away from her fingers.

It wasn’t really her place to tell Anna that she always thought that Anna had the perfect family – they were always there; loud, brash and unabashedly proud of her. She didn’t really know her _best-_ friend enough to tell her this, especially when it was clear that Anna was moments away from letting a single tear roll down her face. Instead, Talulah turns and gives her a hug and settles on telling her best-friend that she can always talk to her.

And at that, Anna’s face turns in an instant, she’s smiling and there’s a small glint in her eyes. “Great! So it’s okay if I invite you and your mom to one of our famous Moir family outings. Right?”

Talulah gulps, she meant more like talking on the phone, not some big family outing. But then again, she always wondered what it would be like.

Anna continues on, “It’ll be so great! I’ll finally have someone to talk to,” Anna grabs her hand. “Please say yes,” and looks expectantly at her.

Talulah doesn’t even really have to think about it; there are moments in life where the only answer is yes – with an exclamation point. She starts imagining all the Moirs surrounding her before she feels Anna’s full embrace strangling her.

“Thank you so much, T!”

She was about to say “No, thank _you_ ” back to Anna when a white minivan pulls up on them, making Anna scurry, grabbing her bag. She turns to Talulah as she nears the door, “I’ll see you next week! I can’t wait!” she smiles and waves as she opens the door and sits in the car.”

“Me too!” Talulah tries to respond back, but she’s pretty sure that Anna didn’t hear her as Anna continues waving back at Talulah, still smiling as the minivan drives away. Talulah can’t help but wave back and smile at her friend until she’s out of view.

She shoots her mom a quick text about how there’s no need in picking her up, she’ll just walk home.

A lot of things were going on in her mind as she tries to recount every Moir she’s seen in her life and a nice walk home under the gentle sun might just jog her memory of all of them, was there _five, ten… twelve of them?_  

**Foe.**

Just as she tries to recite all their names aloud, someone comes up running from behind her, placing sweaty palms over her eyes. “Guess who.”

His hands were a dead giveaway – she knew those clammy palms. “I know it’s you Jason,” she rips his hand away from her face and continues walking on.

“Wait! Wait up T!”

She doesn’t, she really isn’t in the mood for Jason to bring her day down – it was his specialty, especially when it came to her.

Jason runs up to her, slinging his hockey skates over his shoulders as he tries to match her pace. “So what’s up T!” He says it so casually like he’s her friend or something.

“It’s Talulah.” She snips and quickens her steps, he did not have the privilege of calling her by what her friends and family knew her as. He wasn’t a friend. And he certainly was not family.

“Okay. What’s up Talulah,” he nudges her, and keeps up with her in his annoying way. Can’t he see that she just wants to walk in peace, away from him?

“Nothing really. I’m just walking,” Talulah says –  but really it was more like a power walk.

“Well you wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had.” Jason looks at her expectantly, like he wants her to ask him about his day - which she really does not, she doesn’t care about him. At all. So, she just continues walking, making sure to keep her eyes in front of her.

But he tells her anyways. “I’ve been scouted! They want me to go to some special training over the summer. Says that I’ve got potential.” He walks straight in front of her, blocking her way. Talulah rolls her eyes as she tries to make him move, which doesn’t really work as he’s holding on to her shoulders and looking her straight in the eyes, grinning, “Can you believe that T?”

“It’s Talulah.”

He rolls his eyes at her and chuckles, “Can you believe it _Talulah_?”

She always knew that Jason was talented – well at least that’s what she heard from the murmurings around her, “Jason’s gonna be the next [so and so]” – she really wasn’t that interested in ice hockey to learn about their names – unless they were Scott’s of course.

“Ehh… I think I could be better than you.” She ducks from his hold and walks on, leaving him in his spot.

She doesn’t get far before he’s right in front of her, again holding her in place. “At ice hockey, T.”

“At ice hockey, _J._ ” She stares him down before flinging his fingers off her shoulders and starts walking. She doesn’t know where this confidence comes from – she just started her ice hockey lessons with Scott and to say that she’s a giraffe on skates is a pretty massive understatement. She remembers Scott telling her “Maybe we should get you a helmet,” after seeing her on the ice for the first time, and it wasn’t really a real hockey game with the pushing and the shoving - she didn’t need the help to fall over on her own.  

“We should have a game sometime then.”

She must have hit her head hard on the ice that day because she says, “We should,” with a tight-lipped grin.

Jason waggles his eyebrows, looking smug. “I’ll let you set the date then.”

“Well… I have a lot of ballet stuff this week,” a lie, “and-”

“So next week then?” He cuts her off and grins at her, his face is so smug that she-

“Yes. Next week is _totally_ fine.”

It’s totally fine, she reassures herself. Scott’s a great teacher and she’s totally sure that she’s going to become a great hockey player… eventually… hopefully by next week.

“It’s settled then.” He holds out his hand to her.

And in hindsight, she should have expected it.

“It’s settled,” she agrees and before she knew it she felt a warm, sticky substance on the palm of her hand. Disgust starts showing on her face as she sees it – the translucent splotch, bubbling in the center of her palm. “EWWW!” She rubs her hand on the front of his jersey, not caring that it probably feels more like slaps against his body.

Jason just looks at her amused. Tiny hairs start falling on his face as he lets out a soundless laugh that turns more into a snigger as she continues.

“You’ll be wiping that smirk off your face once I beat you,” Talulah huffs before storming across the street to her house.

“I just gave you some of my DNA, you should be grateful, it might just give you some of ice hockey magic T!” Jason shouts back at her.

She turns around, her fiery temper showing in her voice, “It’s Talulah!”

Now she really does have to beat him.

**Family.**

That Jason. She marches off to the kitchen and turns the tap on to scrub off the remnants of him left on her hands. If only she could magically learn not to fall on her skates then maybe she stands a chance. It shouldn’t be that hard to push a puck with a stick on the ice once she gets her footing.

Unlike ballet, skating didn’t come naturally to her. The feeling of the blade holding her up was weird, it wasn’t a second skin unlike her flats. The coldness of the rink wasn’t as welcoming as her warm ballet studio. The stick was too slim in her hands to be mistaken as holding on to a barre. Her legs and body were burning in different parts and the falls on the ice felt so much harder compared to solid ground.

A squeak catches Talulah’s attention – it wasn’t like a mouse. It was a high-pitched sound, more like squeal really. She turns off the tap and rubs her hands on a towel before turning around to investigate the noise.

“Mom?” She yells out, tiptoeing around, searching for clues. _Was the door locked before she opened it?_

She doesn’t get to answer her question as she finds her first clue, picking up a red shirt off the ground.

“Tutu?” She hears her mom call out. Then, “Ow!”, the sound coming from her mom’s bedroom - though the voice she didn’t think was her mom’s - it sounded deeper, more like a man’s voice.

Talulah rushes over to her mom’s room and opens the door, only to be greeted by her mom’s reddened cheeks, messy ponytail and trench coat – misaligned with a button secured in a hole higher than it should be.

Her mom looks at her, then looks at the invisible watch on her wrist. “Sorry. I must have forgotten the time,” pressing her lips together, cheeks still red. A silent second pass, Talulah tries to search for answers in her mom’s face just before her mom gets her away from the room, closing it shut and announcing that they should go out for ice cream, hurrying her out of the house and into the car.

They don’t make it past their front door before she tells her mom about her button situation, pointing at it, making her mom look down at what she’s wearing. Her mom laughs it off as a “D’oh!” moment and unbuttons her coat to fix it. A quizzical look appears on Talulah’s face as she recognizes the flimsy black dress underneath it. It’s the negligee – the one her mom said was used for a bedroom photoshoot.

If she was a detective, she’d interrogate her mom about it.

“Better?” her mom asks her as she smooths down her now properly buttoned-up trench coat.

“Uh-huh,” she hums out as her mom turns around to lock the house. It’s then that she notices the piece of red article still in her clutch. She opens it up fully, the name staring at her as her mom turns back around.

In an instant her mom’s face turns the same shade of red as the jersey.

Another silent second passes before Talulah clumps the jersey in her hands and says, “We should probably return this to Scott…Mom.” She stares at her mom and grins at her scrunched-up face. “I mean he’s probably looking for it right now.”

Her mom starts nervously laughing, head down before opening the door again. Her laughter fades as she sees Scott bend over their couch, a duffel bag on the ground and a pillow between his hands with no shirt to be seen.

“Are you looking for this?” Talulah holds up his red jersey, tentatively, making him flinch and look up at them. Awkwardness filled the room - her mom, her and Scott in his half-naked state.

She thought that she and Anna were awkward earlier… Well…

There’s a sheepish look on his face as he runs his fingers by the back of his neck and nods. Talulah chucks the jersey at him and he catches it with one hand before pulling it over his surprisingly chiseled body. (It wasn’t really a surprise that he had a chiseled body - it was a surprise that she actually saw it.) Would it be weird if she high-fived her mom right now? Yeah, probably.

“We should all go out for ice cream,” Talulah announces, breaking the silence.

They – her mom and Scott give each other a look, like they’re secretly having a conversation with one another. Scott pushes an eyebrow up and smiles. “Okay,” her mom chirps.

“Cool. Then Scott can teach me ice hockey after.” Talulah grins at both of them, “I mean he already has his hockey gear, so we might as well. Right?” After all she wasn’t going to lose to Jason and she didn’t want to let go of this opportunity in front of her.

There’s another look between her mom and Scott before he breaks it and smiles at Talulah. “Fine,” he says as he walks over to mess her hair. “You think you’re ready to handle a puck and stick?”

“Of course,” she beams up at him, hooking her arms around his while he intertwines his fingers around her mom’s.

And just like that, Operation: Bring Jason down at his own game was underway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this plot building chapter. Give me your thoughts!


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